The royal dilemma of picking a prime minister for Malaysia

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, was

sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister by the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, on Nov 24.

His appointment by the King has allowed for the formation of a new government and calmed the markets. It also reinforced perceptions of the growing influence of Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy in its evolving parliamentary democracy.

This perception has grown particularly since 2020 as Malaysia found itself faced with unprecedented political crises first

triggered by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation.

 These have largely been the result of the decline of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) leading party Umno, which had dominated Malaysia’s political and governance system for six decades, and the rise of its rivals, PH and Perikatan Nasiona (PN). As administrations collapsed, it was left to the King to offer contingent solutions, including appointing premiers whose support in Parliament was unclear to the public.